Breaking Gods by Viola Grace Page A

four-foot-high beasty.
    Muraz wrestled with the beast for possession of his clothing and was successful.
    She laughed and retrieved his boots and pack to save them from any curious goats.
    He pulled his robe back on and ran the cleaning technique that she had shown him that morning. There was still a chewed hole in his shoulder but the rest was intact.
    Lieta was still smiling. “If you put anything down for more than a minute, they will investigate by tearing it to pieces. I have flown home naked twice because of them. This is neither the time nor the place for romantic contact.”
    He grimaced. “I am getting that idea. So, how do we do this?”
    “We walk to the point where the lake meets the stone and we clap. The goats know what to do from there.”
    She hoisted her pack and set off while he was busy pulling his boots on.
    The herd looked sparse, only a few beasts here and there, but the moment they started moving, the few was going to look like many very quickly.
    He followed her, and half an hour later, they stood on the promontory between water and stone.
    “So, is this some kind of sonic event, some strange talent you are going to share with me?”
    “No, this is using natural acoustics. Clap like this.” She held out her hands and brought them together in three short bursts, two with pauses and three more.
    The goats lifted their heads and began to bleat.
    Muraz was amused, but he mimicked the pattern and the beasts turned and ambled out a small crack in the stone face that guarded the lake.
    “How do they know how to do that?”
    She smiled and slowly began to follow the goats. “They know it because they have been doing this for dozens of generations, long before I was born. The abbey has always used the goats and they have flourished under our care.”
    “It seems everyone who enters the abbey flourishes.” He walked with her. “May I ask you some questions?”
    “Certainly.”
    “Did you ever fear Mother and Father?”
    It was a simple question and she gave him a simple answer. “Yes. They are ancient and no one knows how long they have been here and they will never be specific. Their original form is unknown and they won’t say. They are both natural and alien at the same time. It is frightening, and each time they link with my mind, there is so much power pressing in on me, I feel terrified. That said, I am also never more cherished and protected than when I am linked with them.”
    “That is honest. Do they know?”
    She gave him a sidelong glance. “Of course they do. They know what they are, but they keep their secrets. May I ask you a question?”
    “Fair is fair.” He smiled.
    “Did you ever meet the Aruda on your home world? There had to have been some at one point.”
    “No. Until I came here, I would never have thought to look. I didn’t know that this species even existed, let alone that it was encoded in my genes.”
    “I didn’t know that I wasn’t the only one of my kind and that a bunch of the others were power-mad jackasses. Every day is another chance to learn.”
    They followed the goats through the narrow path and down the mountainside in a progress lost to time.
    Every now and then, Muraz would ask a question about life in the abbey or how she could so easily master new skills. She answered question after question until they made it down to the wintering valley.
    “How do we get the kids and mothers separate from the rest?” Muraz was looking nervous at the flock, as it was obviously over two thousand milling and bleating goats.
    She smiled and whistled in a lilting tone, over and over until the small creatures with floppy ears made a beeline for her. Their mothers came after them.
    “How do you do that?”
    “I was trained by Brother Eycar. Bringing in the flock had been his duty. I took over from him when he wasn’t able to make the journey. He enjoyed it.”
    She whistled again and more of the little ones separated from the flock until there were over one